Speaking to reporters, Donald J. Trump rattled off a list of lies in under one minute. The lies told by the President are easily debunkable, but this is who Trump is.
Trump declared the country is thriving, pointing to a "record" stock market and claiming his administration has notched 79 records in a short span. He asserted that employment is higher than it's ever been and that prices are falling quickly. That's false, of course.
Americans aren't seeing that at the gas station, grocery store, or when paying for medical bills and housing. Trump has repeated that claim, which didn't pass the test with fact-checkers.
Turning to Iran, he insisted the situation there is going smoothly. He claimed the U.S. Navy has sole, total control of the Strait of Hormuz — repeating "only us" for emphasis — before capping it off by calling the Navy "unbelievable" and declaring everything is going great for the country.
As for his lie about the Strait of Hormuz, that was contradicted by his own military's conduct: military escorts are still needed to shuttle commercial vessels through the Strait, and Iran has attacked 64 vessels transiting it, resulting in 17 seafarer deaths and 35 injuries. Oil futures were still climbing at the time, undercutting the "control" claim, and an agreement between Tehran and Washington hadn't materialized.
Trump said, "Iran is going fine... absolutely fine" on the same day, Iran's Supreme National Security Council said the Strait would not reopen until the U.S. "corrects its behavior." Oil prices hit $90 a barrel for the first time in two weeks. U.S. forces were also actively striking vessels in the region that same day.
"79 records" — An oddly specific number with no clear public data source backing it; it reads as a fabricated-sounding flourish rather than a verifiable stat.
And his lies will continue.
He's a President with a penchant for lying, while the media largely shrugs. What's even more bizarre is that a good chunk of his base knows he's lying. They just don't care.
